Tuesday August 16, 2011 4:39 pm

Steve Jobs: A Biography hits stores November 21, pre-order now

This Christmas, get your loved ones a meaty biography on the elusive CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.

A spokeswoman for publisher Simon & Schuster said the book, which sports a new cover (right), will be available at all retail and electronic outlets on November 21, 2011. The pre-order sale price for the hardcover at Barnes & Noble is $20.40, or 37 percent off the list price of $32.50.

For the first ever authorized biography of Steve Jobs, simply titled "Steve Jobs: A Biography," acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson spent three years conducting "exclusive and unprecedented" interviews with the famously closed-off Apple co-founder.

The book promises interviews with Jobs' ex-girlfriends, foes, family, and fired colleagues. Furthermore, Jobs apparently didn't demand to review the book before it went to print.

Here's a taste of what to expect: "He was not a model boss or human being, tidily packaged for emulation. Driven by demons, he could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is thus both instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values," the book overview reads.

There are numerous unauthorized biographies of Steve Jobs, but this is the first written with his blessing. A search for "Steve Jobs" on Amazon produces results like "The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation" and the controversial "iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business."

This article, written by Sara Yin, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.